Raw retreat at The Tiing, Bali

Inspired by its rugged and remote location on the northern coast of Bali, The Tiing Tejakula Villa has been designed as a 'reward for the intrepid' to pull people away from the well-worn tourist path and lose themself in wild luxury.

The Tiing was designed by Perth-based architect Nic Brunsdon in collaboration with Manguning, a local Balinese hotel designer that seeks to enable curious travellers to explore locally-rooted neighbourhoods to foster meaningful ideas through contemporary-designed spaces. 

The fourteen-suite boutique hotel is located in Tejakula on the north coast of Bali, where the highlands meet the exotic, black sand beach. Embedded into the authentic, ancient Balinese culture the region is immersed in, the design of the hotel deliberately leans on traditional materials and construction techniques, with a heavy focus on honed, polished and off-form concrete (the preferred construction method in Bali) and the bamboo of which the island is plentiful (the hotel's name is derived from the local word 'Tiing', meaning bamboo). 

"Concrete and bamboo are abundant here, so it was best to work with these materials throughout The Tiing. In a tropical climate, a clean finish would require much maintenance; here, the material will weather in, enhancing the character of the architecture and place," architect Nic Brunsdon says. Bamboo features throughout the hotel as a mainstay, from the doors, window shutters, and entry pavilion, to the re-used bamboo formwork that rings the site. "Expressing the texture and form of the bamboo as a negative impression in the patina of the concrete became this project's motif," Brunsdon adds.

The hotel offers multiple reveals of thought-provoking spaces, including a blood-red-tiled swimming pool, deliberately designed to be in high contrast to the lush green jungle surrounding. "Arriving at The Tiing is a process of 2.5 hours traversing winding roads through the lush Balinese landscape. We wanted something that would act as a distinct counterpoint to that all-consuming 'green-ness'," says Brunsdon of the visually impactful design. 

The Tiing is bookended with walls that become shear, framing the mountains and the sea — a contemporary nod to Bali's traditional stone gateways, the highly decorated totems prevalent throughout the island that locals believe encourage the eye and the spirit to drift onwards.

"Architecturally, these walls act as funnels, giving each room an equal and opposing view of the mountain and the ocean, meaning that guests are always situated in the truth of the site," says Brunsdon of the meaningful design. And this kind of “rugged regionalism”, as the architect calls it, is what makes The Tiing such a grounding travel experience — a modern take on the traditional, and a unique destination, place and space for unwinding and reconnecting to the self to nature through contemporary design.

Architecture: Nic Brunsdon

Photography: Benjamin Hosking